Sepsis Prevention: A Population Health Approach

Dakota Sander, Danielle Robertson and Nicole Boutin were part of a group of fourth year nursing students from the University of Saskatchewan completing a community health nursing placement at Parkridge Rehabilitation Centre (PRC), a rehabilitation and long term care facility. PRC has been experiencing an increase in sepsis amongst their resident population, resulting in the requirement of hospitalization for treatment. The Saskatchewan Ministry of Health challenged PRC to find ways to decrease the prevalence of sepsis in their facility. Due to health care budget constraints, this facility reached out to the clinical group of fourth year nursing students to minimize the educational gap amongst their multidisciplinary team. These three nursing students not only worked with the frontline care providers at PRC, but they also expanded their target audience to include care providers at other long-term care facilities throughout the Saskatoon Health Region. The goal of their research project and presentation was to help enhance the practice and knowledge of those caring for vulnerable residents, specifically related to the prevention and early recognition of sepsis. Through their work, they are hoping to ultimately decrease the prevalence of sepsis amongst their target population.

In the span of four weeks, they reached over 260 frontline care providers, and created educational binders for the future use of the facilities!